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The saga · 16th century, Elizabethan era

A Column of Fire

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Catholics and Protestants at war, and a Kingsbridge man in Elizabeth I's service

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Do you need to read it?

Yes. It's in the Main story, the list of only what moves the plot forward to the end of the saga.

Where it falls in the order

  • Main story3 of 5
  • Chronological4 of 5
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Spoilers for this title

Quick recap

1558. Ned Willard, a tolerant Protestant from Kingsbridge, loves the Catholic Margery Fitzgerald, but her family marries her off to Bart Shiring. Ned enters Elizabeth I's service and becomes the queen's spymaster. In Paris, Sylvie Palot, a Protestant bookseller's daughter, risks her life for her faith, while the Catholic Pierre Aumande plans the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre. Margery's brother Rollo becomes an exiled priest and plots against Elizabeth as Jean Langlais. Ned uncovers the Babington Plot, which sends Mary, Queen of Scots, to the block, helps defeat the Spanish Armada and, in 1605, stops the Gunpowder Plot, Rollo's scheme, at the last moment. Margery finally ends up with Ned.

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2 what changed on screen

What changed on screen

  1. Behind the scenesA title from the Bible

    Like the other Kingsbridge books, the title comes from the Bible: the pillar of fire that led the Israelites by night in Exodus.

    source ↗
  2. ReferenceFiction mixed with history

    Ned's role in the Babington Plot and the Armada's defeat is invented. For the Gunpowder Plot, Follett left out a real detail: the gunpowder had already gone bad.

    source ↗
No spoilersThe easter eggs give away parts of the title. They open once you mark it as seen.

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